Founding leaders of BRAC UK retire after five years of achievement

24 January 2011, London. The founding leaders of BRAC UK – Professor Patrick Vaughan, Chairperson, and Sandra Kabir, Executive Director – both announced that they would be moving on in early 2011.

Their decision marks five years of successful collaboration as a leadership team that firmly established BRAC UK – both in the UK and internationally.

The organisation was founded as an affiliate to BRAC – the award winning international organisation based in Bangladesh and the world’s largest NGO. With Patrick as Chair of the Trustees and Sandra as Executive Director, BRAC UK has grown from a fledgling NGO to a well respected organisation that tackles and addresses the causes and effects of poverty in places as diverse as Tower Hamlets in East London to Juba in Southern Sudan.

Both Patrick and Sandra were particularly passionate about the role that BRAC UK played in advocating a ‘South-South’ approach to development, as well as in ‘South-North’ development dialogues. The support of the British-Bangladesh communities has been central to BRAC UK establishing its reputation and engaging decision makers in diaspora issues.

Staff, clients and friends paid tribute to both Sandra and Patrick for their inspirational leadership style and said they would be greatly missed. Mark Goldring, BRAC UK Trustee, said:

"Patrick and Sandra have put heart and soul into ensuring that BRAC's wonderful work tackling poverty and disadvantage has been extended into Britain, benefiting poorer Asian communities within London, and that the UK has been able to help BRAC extend its work from Bangladesh around other countries of the developing world. We owe them sincere thanks and appreciation."

Geoffrey Salkeld has been appointed interim Executive Director to assist the Board in searching for a new Executive Director to take BRAC UK forward into its next phase of growth and development.

Geoffrey is a retired, highly experienced, development professional who has held executive positions at the World Bank (Indonesia), UN (India), and NGOs including Oxfam GB, Oxfam Novib (Netherlands) and Oxfam International. He specialises in project and programme evaluations and facilitating strategic planning.